{PRP} One Warm Day {SakuraXRoman}

[Regal Renegade]

For one with wings upon his back Roman walked everywhere, something that was never really understood by others. He had grown accustomed to walking because of his father, who for some reason refused to fly anywhere, had dragged him and his brother from one end of the earth to the other. Still, his feet kept moving as though pulled by something. He had no idea where he was going and really didn’t care. He had learned to stop caring about the destination when he was still young for it always remained a secret anyway. His eyes turned skyward as he walked, noting the brilliant blue and the brightly burning sun with nothing more than a mild awareness. It was no more wondrous to him than the pebbles he had been tromping on. Gravel turned to soil and the soil soon gave way to knee high grass. The stallion did not stop to admire the beauty around him; it was lost on his icy blue eyes.

His pace began to slow as he sensed it was time to change direction, his body drifting to the right as if following some path invisible to the eye. Drawing to a stop at a small stream he bowed his head and took a long eager drink of the water. He must have been walking farther and faster than even he had realized for his body seemed starved for hydration.  

[Phail Ninja]

Padding softly through the forest, the mare's footsteps were nothing but a light pitter-patter over the leaves. If one did not listen intently, it would be easy to mistake her movements for nothing but the breeze. And indeed the breeze was also acting up, playing gentle tricks upon the mind. One leaf blew one way, the canopy swayed another. But what movement was due to creature, and what was simply due to the rush of air?

The pastel mare paused for a second and raised her head, inhaling the sweet scents of the forest. The day was ripe, the air moist and rich. Yet her throat was dry, parched from a period in which she did not stumble upon any streams. Yet the subtle tilt of the ground beneath her, and the increasing softness of the soil, hinted at a source of water just ahead. And as she dodged one rather large tree trunk, there it was.

A small, meandering stream weaved its way through the foliage. Bending her head, she took a few long draughts and sighed in relief as the cool liquid soothed her throat. It was only then that she noticed the other Soquili there, also lapping at the precious water. "Hello there, I'm Sakura!" She called, already making her way over.

 

[Regal Renegade]

The sound of the mares approach was masked by the sound of the running waters and thus Roman was caught unprepared as she announced herself and came toward him. With slow deliberation he finished his drink and lifted his head to inspect whoever was foolish enough to come toward him. When his icy eyes fell upon the mare he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Sure he had encountered oddly colored soquili before but this one surely took the cake for the strangest by far. He took note of the fact she had wings like himself but was surprised to see such an odd tail and what looked to be a horn coming from her head. In all of his wandering he hadn’t met with a creature like this and found himself intrigued if not a little irritated at having his quiet drink interrupted. “Hello.” He responded hesitantly. Though he knew he was initiating a conversation he couldn’t help but to be interested in the looks of the mare before him.

“What are you?” He asked bluntly and without pause. Roman was not the type to beat around the bush when it came to logical questions, for him it was best to just get the answer and be on your way as opposed to going through a bunch of useless garble to get there. Though normally he would not allow for his curiosity to carry him as far as it had he couldn’t help but wonder. With all of the places he and his brother had been he found himself astonished at their lack of observation, though, social time wasn’t something they did.  

[Phail Ninja]

Watching his slow, deliberate actions and cold tendencies, Sakura flicked an ear back half-playfully. So this was the way it was going to be? It was like looking after those foals again! There was always one bratty, spoiled foal who needed some coaxing. But then again, he had replied, so he deserved some credit. Through his blunt words, she could sense a curious spark.

"Well, Mr No-Name, I'm nothing more than a Soquili just as yourself, though a little more colorful." She snorted gently, "Good thing I'm not a meat eater, or I'd never catch any prey! Can you imagine me trying to stalk something? I'd have to be in a meadow full of pink flowers to even try." A low chortle escaped her lips, but then she shook her head. "Look at me, I'm already veering off track. What am I? I'm an Alicorn. That's half Wind, like yourself, and half Unicorn. My mum was a Unicorn, bless her, healed like no other could! You've heard of them, of course? And my... my dad was... is... a Wind." Hoping he wouldn't notice her brief lapse, she delved into chattering on once more. "I can't fly quite as high as he could, because of my Unicorn blood, but I can heal small scrapes and things instead. That's why I was walking. My wings get tired after too long. I guess you're not from these parts, if you don't recognize my breed?"

 

[Regal Renegade]

One simple question and already this mare had begun spilling her life story to him. With a heaving sigh he halfheartedly paid attention as she rattle off briefly about her genealogy and abilities. After she had finished he didn’t respond immediately but lowered his head and took another deep swallow of the cool water before bringing his eyes to hers. Her comments about hunting pray would have made him laugh had he not found himself annoyed by her obvious cheer. “Well, at least you know your flaws and do not have to be told. That is a good step in the right direction.” He responded in a level tone. Her color was nearly blinding so he looked away for a moment.

“Though it is of little consequence to a discussion my name is Roman and as you have stated I am not from around these parts.” He had gotten his answer and part of him wished to merely walk away but remnants of the conversation he and Athela had shared bounced around in his skull. Perhaps if he were to try to interact things would change for him, though he sincerely doubted it. “I do in fact know what a Unicorn is I have just never seen a mixture of the bloodlines. Where I am from it was frowned upon for a wind to conceive with a different breed.”  

[Phail Ninja]

Clearly the stallion was not the most social of Soquili, but that was no matter to Sakura. The mare was determined to get him talking properly. Such cold tendencies could leave one feeling lonely, and she was sure there was a nicer side somewhere deep inside him. After all, he hadn't turned around and left, he had stayed to listen. And she was sure she'd detected some curiosity in his initial question.

"Roman?" She said out loud, committing the name to memory. "Where are you from? I've never traveled much myself, but I've heard stories about the general layout of the land. What was the journey like? Do you like traveling? I've always found it much more comfortable to just stay in one area, though I suppose there is a certain allure to go and see exotic places." She was off again, words flowing off her tongue like water flowing through a river. "Frowned upon?" She stamped her hoof slightly, trying to comprehend, "Love's fair wonderful, why put limits on it? Surely any Soquili has the right to love any other!"

 

[Regal Renegade]

He knew he would regret inhibiting her question asking for she took off once more, bombarding his ears with her penetrating enquiries. At least they were penetrating in his line of thought for asking a traveler where he originated from seemed quite a personal question. Shaking his head and rolling his shoulders he attempted to alleviate the aggravation plaguing him at this very moment. Athela had told him to remain positive and positive things would happen but his socializing had been minimal at best so he found it rather irritating.

“I have no real place of origin for I have been moving since I could walk well enough.” He responded gruffly, uncomfortable with speaking about his past and the horrors it held. He desired to merely tell her to silence herself and walk away but he remained for whatever reason. He could leave quite easily but something was holding him back from merely walking away and playing his usual part as an a**. “The land looks the same everywhere, be it full of trees or baron wastelands it never changes and always remains as dull as before. The journey was dull and undesirable but necessary. I hate traveling but I do not wish to remain in one place for too long, there is no reason to stay.” His voice remained monotone, not betraying his annoyance or the pain at the memories of his brother and hated father. The stomp of her hoof caught his attention and he listened to her speak of love. “My herd believed in pure bloodlines, not love, though love did happen between selected breeding pairs. Love is a useless thing in my opinion, bringing about nothing but pain and regret from the moment of its conception.”  

[Phail Ninja]

Though the stallion wasn't being too friendly, Sakura's ears twitched good-naturedly. She'd got him talking at least, now to break through that harsh exterior! Perhaps she was pushing him too much though. It was best to start out with smaller talk. Her gray eyes looked him up and down piercingly, though the crinkled corners betrayed her softness. Still, surely a conversation about the 'lovely weather' they were having would be far too dull to engage him.

"Surely land cannot look the same everywhere. The desert is baking hot and full of sand, nothing rough, everything a smooth line of yellow. The mountain ranges are jagged, everything very cold, with white snow dotting about. Those are complete contrasts surely! Then you get the jungles, teeming with green and life, whereas the other two are mostly barren."

She paused as she listened to his views of love, and winced slightly at his last words. Though she had never felt true stirrings of love, she had watched the tragedy that befell her parents. "But... love is a powerful emotion, there isn't really a right or wrong side to it. Yes, it can bring about the greatest sorrows, yet it can also bring about the most blissful joys." From what she could remember, her parents had positively glowed when they were around each other. And if you looked at happy families now, there was no inkling of pain or sorrow in their lives.

 

[Regal Renegade]

A humorless grin painted his countenance and he looked her square in the eye, piercing blue eyes fixed on warm gray eyes. This mare had done him no injury and he was certain she hadn’t harmed any other innocent. She seemed like a kind and loving female and he almost pitied her for not seeing what sadness and darkness the world was truly full of. Almost, for her love of the world made him envious and glad all in one. “I have been through them all, more than once.” His tone was gruff and even as he looked to the mountains and trees around them. “When you have seen one you have seen them all.” He finished. To him these mountains looked exactly like the ones he had walked by in different lands, nothing was new or exciting anymore.

The topic changed to love and a hole he had once thought closed reopened in his heart. He inhaled deeply, attempting to pacify the stinging before speaking on the matter once more. “I have only ever witnessed it bringing about sorrow, how often does it even bring bliss? It seems like a rare occasion when love puts smiles on the faces of those around us.” He grumbled in response.  

[Phail Ninja]

"But look around you!" She stretched out wing out in a gesture to her left, "A maple tree, right? Same as that one?" She stretched out her other wing to gesture to a similar tree on her other side. "But they are so different. Look at the one on my left. No two leaves upon it are the same, though they all have the same green color and general shape. But is that so different from Soquili? We are all similar, with four legs and one equine-shaped head, yet each is unique. Then look at the tree on my right. The leaves are in general a darker color. The trunk is more gnarled, it is shorter! Should you go deeper into the forest, the trees change. You get bigger, older trees. Oaks and towering pines. You cannot claim they look exactly the same. Even the same tree will look different on different days."

The rose-colored mare lowered her wings to her sides. It was a shame when Soquili became blind to the beauty of their world. She snorted slightly after her soliloquy, wishing he would see what she saw.

"Pfft. Just because one bad thing happens from love, doesn't mean all of it is bad. Look at families all around you. Yes, they bicker! Just as any close friends will at some point bicker, but look at their faces. Look at the joy as they watch each other, and their offspring." Warmth filled her as she recalled her siblings, but then was replaced by a pang of emptiness. They had left her. Maybe there was SOME truth to he stallion's words. But that would not stop her from remembering her family fondly, or from treasuring their good times. No, love was worth it in the end.

 

[Regal Renegade]

Roman hardly heard her exclamations about trees being different and landscapes being dissimilar as well. He was looking at her as she spoke but he wasn’t thinking about what she was saying and he didn’t care. “Once you have seen one you have seen them all.” He responded simply. “All covered in the same scratchy bark, all having their stupid little leaves and their deep roots. There may be small differences but if you have seen one tree that is more than enough.” He scoffed a little as she spoke of the differences of Soquili. “So what? We may be different breeds and have different colors and markings but once you have seen one of us you can tell that they others fall under the same category. Life is just one long repetitive circle with no end in sight. Everything is the same day in and day out, it is dull and tasteless.” He finished with a shake of his wings. He had seen it all, nothing surprised him anymore.

The mention of smiling families had his teeth set on edge, this mare knew nothing about the cruelties the world so enjoyed offering. “Kind of hard for a family to be happy when everyone is dead don’t you think?” He responded. For how agitated he was his tone was rather smooth and calm, he wasn’t showing an outward emotion of hatred or anything, he was just….calm.  

[Phail Ninja]

If awkward he was going to be, Sakura was going to be awkward right back. "Ah, but they don't. Some have big, very deep roots. Usually only a few main ones and little else. Others branch out like a spider's web, criss-crossing with millions of tendrils and all their roots close to the surface. And the bark is not the same at all. On some it is brown, on other black and white. Some are rotting, others are not. On some the bark is smooth, whilst on others it is broken up and rough. Some do not even have leaves, they have needles and drop pine cones."

She paused, mulling his words over carefully. Then a defiant spark crept into her ashen eyes. "Categories we may have, but everyone within each category is completely unique. Can you honestly say you've ever met two Soq that are identical?" She stamped her hoof upon the ground as though demanding an answer.

Then a pang of sorrow knifed her heart and soul. She flinched, casting her eyes down sadly. "Do not make the mistake of thinking you are the only one who has lost your family. We are more alike than you care to believe." A forlorn expression filled her face as she raised her head in a silent challenge. "But I look back at my memories fondly. I treasure what I used to have. Do you?" Her eyes flashed as she mentally repeated the last words again.

Do you?

 

[Regal Renegade]

Roman listened to her babbling with little to no interest he was beginning to grow annoyed and it was showing a little more than he realized. “Point out as many things as you like but when you have seen one tree you have seen them all. When walking along, even in different parts of the globe, you still know what a tree is. They are unremarkable and every day trifles others like to waste their time with. “ He snorted. Though he admired the conviction she had in her thoughts he found himself wishing she would preach somewhere else.

Rolling his icy eyes Roman sighed. “If I am walking along and I encounter something with wings and a horn I will know it is an Alicorn because I have met you, no need to quibble on personality or colors for it is a rather mute point.” Once you have seen something for the first time it is likely you will be able to identify it once again based on a few key similarities. This was Roman’s way of thinking; a rock is a rock is a rock just as a river is a river is a river. Once you have encountered one you know what the rest are, and if you are like him and have encountered many they all begin to look alike.

“Do not make the assumption I have lost my family, I mentioned no such thing nor did I implicate anyone when I mentioned it. I merely made a statement that if the family is all dead there is nothing to look back on and love. You brought up how they bicker and how they all adore one another but there are some who have never had that opportunity.” He would not allow her to know of his past, it wasn’t something he truly wanted to speak on at the moment. He wasn’t one to go around whining about how his mommy was murdered and his daddy was cruel to him and his sick younger brother. It wasn’t anyone’s business but his own. “You may be able to look back and enjoy fond memories but there are those who cannot.”  

[Phail Ninja]

Her message didn't seem to be working its way through the stallion's thick skull. "If they are everyday trifles that others waste their time on, what is it that you like to waste your time on?" He was as stubborn as a head-strong young colt! She snorted gently, shaking her head in vague amusement. It was too bad that he wasn't still a young colt, because if he had been his eyes would not yet have been closed to the beauty all around him. On the contrary, he would have been marveling at the world around him and probably would have been raring for adventure.

"And if I meet a sarcastic and secretive brown-orange wind stallion with blue eyes and a red mane with white striped named Roman, I know it will be you and not some other wind stallion." Her eyes were joking, but she did not want to push her views upon him anymore. It would only make him more stubborn.

Sakura paused, mulling over his words, "I jumped to an assumption. I apologize." She tilting her head to the side in a sorry gesture. "But even those not born with a family can go out and find their own, and so will make their own memories to treasure. Not all love stories end in disaster."

 

[Regal Renegade]

He grew stiff at her question of what he wasted his time with. “I walk.” Two words but they were filled with bitterness and sorrow. Ever since he was a foal he had been traveling, never feeling as though he belonged in one place or another. If his father had not dragged him and his brother around would he have a place to call home? Perhaps a family of his own? He inwardly snorted at the thought, impossible; there was nothing other than this.

Though she had a point he would not concede, he knew no matter what he did or said she would stick to her ways and it seemed she felt the same way. Rather than speaking further on the subject he shoved it aside. “Why do you stay and speak to me anyway?” The question was gruff and deliberate. He couldn’t understand why, no matter how rude he was, other soquili would stand there and speak to him. What was wrong with them?

There was a strange icy feeling in his gut when she apologized, remorse perhaps? She had been nothing but kind to him and yet he had snapped at her. Rather than giving into the emotion he pushed it down deep and rolled his cold blue eyes. “Unless death follows them, then it shall end in a tragedy.”